COLUMN: Rodin in '96

From Mike Nadel's "Give Them Hell," Fall '95 From Mike Nadel's "Give Them Hell," Fall '95President Rodin."From Mike Nadel's "Give Them Hell," Fall '95President Rodin."It has a nice ring, doesn't it?From Mike Nadel's "Give Them Hell," Fall '95President Rodin."It has a nice ring, doesn't it?But what if it were not Judith Rodin, president of the University of Pennsylvania? What if it were Judith Rodin, President of the United States? Given what's happened politically in the U.S. over the last few years, the candidacy of Judith Rodin for national office may well become a reality. Consider the evidence. A few semesters ago, Tom Luce came to speak at the University. Luce was Ross Perot's closest associate for years, and he ran Perot's 1992 bid for the presidency before Perot went nuts and dropped out. Many people know that Admiral James Stockdale was only intended to be a temporary running-mate for Ross Perot. Some states required that a running-mate be named in order to get on the ballot. Perot's people figured they would name Stockdale to buy time to search for a real running mate. Luce was asked about this search. He said that Perot had a definite idea of what he wanted in a Vice President. He wanted a political outsider, and he wanted a woman. The two major pools for finding political outsiders are academia and business. Since Perot himself came from business, the search focused on academia. No major universities were headed by women in 1992. Bernadette Healy, the director of the National Institute of Health, was the person that Perot and company decided on. Then, of course, Perot self-destructed. By the time he got back in the race, it was too late to replace Stockdale, so Healy was never invited to join the ticket. Incidentally, when Healy left NIH, one of the two finalists to replace her was the Provost of Yale, Dr. Judith Rodin. If Judith Rodin had been president of the University in 1992, she surely would have been on Perot's short-list. She is well-spoken, attractive and universally praised. Furthermore, her ideology is a mystery. Her competition then, as now, would have been minimal. There aren't many nationally prominent female political outsiders. But onward to '96. The failure of the Clinton Presidency and the ascendence of the Republicans in Congress this past November have created a political dynamic that could make Judith Rodin a star. In 1992, Americans gave the Democrats a chance to run the government. In 1994 voters deemed that experiment a failure and gave the Republicans a chance. If the Republican Congress also fails to deliver on its promises, a thoroughly disgruntled and cynical electorate will want to move in a third direction. This new path could be provided by Ross Perot or Colin Powell, or both. They both would need running mates. Neither would be served by choosing a politician. That would symbolize what they would be running against. Picking a woman would represent the kind of bold vision that they would need to demonstrate in order to win. Once again, the spotlight would be on academia. This time, Judith Rodin is here to fill the void. And this time, an independent ticket with Judith Rodin on the bottom could actually win. Rodin is a woman of great talent, and she is on the move. Her appointment to the commission that will advise President Clinton about White House security demonstrates this. Anyone who is still waiting for the comprehensive report on security at the University -- supposedly due out in November -- will report that security is not Rodin's field of expertise. She was chosen not because of what she can do, but because of who she is. While she was tapped for this commission because of her demographics, she accepted because of her ambition. Only months after beginning her work at the University, she was already contemplating her jump to the next level. It is naive to believe that at age fifty, she has reached her pinnacle of success in College Hall. Her future lies in Washington, not West Philadelphia. The political atmosphere in the country right now works in her favor. It may not be long before it is time to plan another $180,000 inauguration. I have floated this idea around for a few months. The response has usually been mockery. At a recent University Council meeting where there was an opportunity to question the president, a friend who is a Council representative passed a note to me. In it he joked, "Should I ask Rodin if she's a candidate for '96?" Laugh all you want. Judith Rodin will be laughing all the way to the White House. You heard it here first. Mike Nadel is a junior Political Science and Communications major from Longmeadow, Mass. Give Them Hell appears alternate Fridays.